Recent MPA designations in Spain resulted in a major expansion of the SEA Exclusion zone, mostly at the expense of Suitable with conditions areas. Almost 55% of the new MPA area occurred in such zone. However, Suitable areas did not decrease much, still allowing for a wide potential sustainable expansion of offshore wind energy in the country under adequate physical conditions.This expansion could theoretically exceed the Spanish target of 750 MW of installed offshore power by 2020 [34] and place the country on the right path to meeting its environmental and renewable energy obligations under the European law [11,12,15] and the Climate and Energy Framework for 2030 [17] while at the